Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-11-24

mOlne- DdlI SICK. IDc cOlIQre1 without 9
shoe to their feet this weather, and
can't get day S work in this town Il
save my life. Let them be Thankful
that have got something to be Thankful
for; out Im not thankful to be hall
starved, an frOZ-, an ragged, an see al
the rest the same way at home, an you
nor no one else Can make me believe
| ought to be, either And, without
waiting for reply, she was gone like =
flash.
Its about the truth said Warne
when relating her words TO his cousin
But We an idea be said brightly. 'Tu
going down To Squire Havgnod's after
dinner to see about it, and if | can in
tercst few others think the Humph-
reys will nCC he forgotten Til .nksgivlng
Day
The young minister was eminently
successful 10 MS project of charity and
succeeded in eulIsing The sympathy of
number OF his pdrishioners in behalf
of the Widow Humphreys aud her chill
dren.
True, they did not show the interest
| he would have liked to see. Still. all
promised 10 do something; and the
| Widow Dryne Was charity personiied
| III send them "A box that will make
| their e. Is Sand out, she declared. They
saall not want for dinner. Never fear,
dodr MIR. War; and she beamed upon
'he ,ung man so sweet J that be felt
u.m> + in iHeIu danger Of surrender
iDg the spot.
Thanksgiving eve came. clear and
cold, but wltu bright moonlight, and at
an early hour the church Was crowded
Then began the work of unpacking the
baskets. boxes, bags and bundles. brought
from all directions; this was the work
OF The com mltLee, and was accom- pliSheG
amid much laughter and confusion.
Conspicuous amid the throng were the
Widow Bryue and Mrs. HaygOod, cOD>
SclOuS that their donations were likely
to call forth the ioudest cOmmeOdation.
They moved about with lofty airs and
made patronizing little remarks % those
whose modest guts had Oeen in accord
dnco with their mtaus.
At length but two boxes rem aimed
unopened by some chance these were
Mrs. HaygoOd's aud Mrs. Brynes. The
committee opened first the widows, and
an eager crowd surged about to view
The widows mite, aS some one laught
ingly suggested. But with an eXcIama-
tiOn o. surprise and disgust, Ella Den
tUu, the foremost one of the commi,tee,
drew from off the Top. where it had been
careieSSly thrown, az cid. faded, thread
bare coat, that Dad, no doubt, seen ac~
tive service, when its lamehted owner
InhabiteI TINS vale OF tears VIII
Warne, who had managed TO get near,
took The diiapidated garment and held it
in full view of the assembled crowd
The widow shrieked: Where, whaL?'
she cried, rushing forward, then stops
ped; for all eyes were drawn upon her
by her exclamation. She had proclaim
ed the donation hers. Next in The box
lay number of articles of male attire,
all. no doubt, from the wardrobe of the
deceased Bryne. Beneath these we're
the old, worn dress skirts. worn hose,
not over clean, some thread and towels,
and d poke bonnet as old as the hills.
These articles were all exhibited to the
admiring audience, which alterna e'y
groaned and snicKered. while the uDfur-
tInale widow stood dumb with sham
and chagriD. Beneath this motley ar
ray of apparel was collection Of eata-
bles that even the bungriest would have
been 10th to call aDpetiZIDg; four squash
pies. slightly sour, and pied one upon
the other. a loaf Of burnt gingerbread.
some duughhnutS, hardened 10y lime. a
few sandwiches and part of loaf Gf
stale bread. This Was the rich widows
mite
TIE committee sniffed disdainfully;
tn" crowd was Ilent for mnmeo' as 1t
gaZed 1T tue motley arra,, hen wild
shout 4 laughter wen up from the
throIg. Even tnr 'uinisfrr was forced |
to join III for III that III 'nent of silence !
the widow had cried uut:
That Was The stuff | iutended for |
those wretchrd Humphreys"
This explained all: here was the dUna- |
tiOn sue made pri ately 10 the Wi oW |
ard the faLherlsss By snme mistak
bt man VINO u ~ 10 nave delivered the |
40 boz fad cha gsd them.
But { le end WAS not yet. Seeing the |
= rlOi- u, 81 that Lad hefdlieu ber
frleH+. MIS-. Ha! gDof ruohe1 forward 10
~ re the rem lIng unopened box.
our< the man could not have mis-
pla ;ed both; but as she looked, she saw
such was the case; either by accident or
for the widow to the church, and left
those intended for the donation, with
uer.
Without a word she sbraDk back into
the crowd and waited for the committee
TO investigate the hurriedly prepared
collection of odds and ends that she had
thought good enough for that poor thing
There was old clothing muSty and cots
weUby, old shoes. old boots, and what a
shout went up when an old hoopskirt
was drawn out of the bottom. There
was besides some links of sausage, a
few small apple 81 ara OF d moldy cheese
and several loaveS of Dread.
1t was for Mrs. Humphreys. was ali
he 'Squire's wife could say, and this
only made matters
worse. The iuckless widow, feeling
herself forever disgraced in the eyes OF
he young minister, left hastily for home.
But Mrs. Haygnod was forced to rem in,
ur the Squire refused to go home.
Y Du'Ve made a II CT mess of it by your
tarnal stingiuess.' be declared. Now
'ou shall stay and face it out;' and stay
hey did.
The donation was success in every
way, ana the Buvds were made very
iappy by their many gifts. But the
Widow Bryue never again attempted to
axe hard in church matters. and her
,Ox, that was to make peoples eyes
tand out, and it did, is still to be heard
# in N. 1t has been told for
Iood story for many THANKSGIVING.
The Humphreys fortunes, strange to
ay, seemed to change for the better
rom that day. Aided by kind friends.
hey were enabled to once more take
position IN the world. And
when Silas Warne finally married. his
hoice was none other than Dora Hum
'breys, the girl who once declared she
lad nothing to be thankful for.
At a meeting of New York Prohibi>
ionists it was decided to recommend
hat the next national convention for
resident of the United States is held
n New York nr - S,ratn1a